Plastic Optical Fiber Components for Industrial Control

Products based on plastic optical fiber (POF) support the emerging interface protocol Sercos.

Sercos is an open-standard digital interface for fiber-optic communication between digital controls, motor drives, I/Os, sensors, and actuators in CNC systems. The products also support future technologies that include glass optical fiber and vertical cavity surface-emitting lasers.

The Sercos transmitter, for example, operates at a wavelength of 650 nm at data rates to 16 Mbps over 1-mm POF or 200-m hard-clad silica fiber. The receiver consists of a photodiode and an onboard digitizing IC with TTL-compatible output, operating on a single 5-Vdc supply. Both devices are packaged in TO-46 metal cans.